Sacrifice
by UnidentifiedWhistlingObject
Summary: The HiveWings are under the control of the Othermind and are coming for Pyrrhia. Tsunami and Turtle got back in time to warn the others, but are they too late to save Pyrrhia? Possible book 14 epilogue (one shot). Rated T for violence, blood, and major character death.


**Hi everyone! This is an idea for an epilogue for Book 14, which, at the time of this writing, does not yet exist. This is my first fanfiction, so please leave reviews and/or critiques; it improves my writing. Thanks for reading!**

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Moon was watching the horizon.

An ominous line from her prophecy pounded through her head.

_Face a great evil with talons united or none of the tribes will survive._

She had assumed it meant the tribes of Pantala, on the other side of the ocean.

But faced with what she was seeing now, she knew it must have meant all the tribes, Pyrrhian and Pantalan.

Because they were coming.

The HiveWings were coming, flying in droves across the sea. Moon had no idea how they had managed to get all the way across the ocean, but Tsunami and Turtle had come back in time to warn them that the HiveWings were planning an invasion. They stood beside her now, along with Qibli and Luna, all watching as the entire HiveWing tribe flew until they hovered like a malevolent, buzzing cloud a hundred meters over the dragonets' heads.

"What do they think they're doing?" Luna asked, frowning up at the HiveWings. "Are they going to attack?"

"They'd better not. I wonder if they know that there are _seven_ tribes of dragons here who won't let them take over Pyrrhia." Tsunami growled. She sounded confident, but Moon thought her deep blue scales looked paler than usual. Tsunami was a strong warrior, feared across Pyrrhia, but these HiveWings were all under the control of the Othermind. It would be like trying to fight a giant, many-taloned, many-tailed monster. Tsunami curled her talons and crouched as five dragons from the cloud of HiveWings dove down toward the beach. They landed in a row between the dragonets and the sea.

"**Dragons of the Distant Kingdoms**," they all said in unison. Moon shuddered. It was eerie, hearing the same thoughts from different minds. She could almost see the tendrils connecting one dragon to another, and each dragon was tethered to something far away across the ocean.

_Like puppets on strings. _

"**I am known by many names - Othermind, Wasp, the breath of evil. But none of that matters to you. My soldiers are deadly. I see everything. You have no choice. Surrender or die**."

"Aaaand...what makes you think we're going to do that?" Turtle said, struggling to put on a brave face.

"**What about..this?"** The HiveWing in the middle, a reddish-orange dragon with black stripes, slowly lifted his front talons toward Turtle's neck. Long stingers slid out of his claws.

"NO!" Tsunami lunged toward the HiveWing, shoving his claws away, her talons flashing toward him, so fast Moon almost didn't see them.

But not fast enough.

As Tsunami clawed the dragon, four HiveWing talons shot out to keep her still.

And a HiveWing tail swung in an arc and plunged, straight into her heart.

"NO!" Turtle screamed. "TSUNAMI!" He ran forward and caught Tsunami as she fell, gently laying her on the sand. The HiveWings stepped back, impassive.

Tsunami was still breathing, but there was blood, so much blood, too much blood for her to survive. She gasped, looking stricken.

"No, Tsunami, no, I - what do I do?" Turtle wailed. "My magic's not working and I-"

"Hey," Tsunami whispered. Her breaths were coming short, but a small, pained smile crossed her face. "It's okay, Turtle. This is how I would have wanted to go - protecting you and the others."

Moon watched in horror, blinking back tears as Tsunami's breathing slowed. The HiveWings did nothing. Moon couldn't hear their thoughts anymore; all she could hear was the waves of pain and sadness coming from Tsunami. Luna was angry, but she couldn't use her flamesilk now or all the HiveWings would attack. Qibli, for once in his life, had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Tsunami, no - we need you," Turtle sobbed.

"Turtle," Tsunami whispered again, so softly Moon could barely hear her. Turtle leaned down close to her snout.

"Kick those smoke-breathers back to their continent for me."

Tsunami's scales began flashing weakly. Moon couldn't understand Aquatic, but she could hear the message in her thoughts.

_I will protect. _

_I will protect. _

_I will protect. _

The message kept repeating, over and over again, until the light in Tsunami's deep blue scales flickered and went dark.


End file.
